Dear friends,
I hope this letter finds you well and safe.
In the first quarter of 2022, the big news internationally was of course the war in Ukraine. Immediately after explosions were heard in Kyiv, MediaCentral was the first international organization to speak with Ukraine’s chief rabbi. We subsequently followed and reported on Rabbi Jonathan Markovitch’s journey to Israel.
Israel also came under attack – both literally and figuratively. Amnesty released a report in February that tarred Jerusalem with accusations of apartheid. At the same time, Palestinian terror activity roiled the country.
MediaCentral addressed both of these issues in a timely manner, focusing on conveying the facts and critical context to foreign correspondents.
We continue to go above and beyond so as to satisfy our core mission: connecting reporters with local and foreign experts, who provide members of the international media with relevant content for inclusion in their stories.
We greatly appreciate the ongoing support of all of our partners and supporters, which allows us to make a tremendous difference in the manner Israel is portrayed worldwide.
Laura Cornfield,
Director, MediaCentral
With Vladimir Putin having commenced a military operation in Ukraine, explosions were soon heard all over the country, including its capital of Kyiv.
MediaCentral invited Kyiv’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Markovitch and his wife Inna to share their thoughts about the Ukrainian skies closing, as well as growing concerns among members of the local Jewish community.
Some content from the Zoom call was subsequently used in Newsweek along with nearly two dozen publications:
In addition, the MC event was quoted in several ABC Radio reports from Israel. We also put ABC’s senior international correspondent in touch with the rabbi and his wife, arranging an exclusive on air interview that was included in World News Tonight
BATTLE FOR UKRAINE: The battle for Ukraine is intensifying with Russian troops closing in on Kyiv, Ukraine as men aged 18-60 are called up to fight and not allowed to leave the country. @IanPannell is there. https://t.co/N6PX4MAjBa pic.twitter.com/R3RkEOQAkB
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) February 26, 2022
Roman Polonsky, Jewish Agency Regional Director for FSU, Eastern Europe and Germany, provided important insights about the latest developments in Ukraine that were heard by more than two dozen journalists – including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and AFP.
Barron’s then picked up the story from AFP:
Meanwhile, our Zoom call resulted in six other Jewish publications running with the story:
Right after the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Rabbi Jonathan Markovitch landed at Ben Gurion Airport MC arranged his first one-on-one first interview, with the Associated Press’ Ilan Ben Zion.
The following quote was featured in AP’s “live updates,” and featured in 1.7K articles subsequently. The largest outlet to include content from the MC event was AOL.COM:
“BEN-GURION AIRPORT, Israel — The chief rabbi of Kyiv, Ukraine, says the Russian invasion has produced “a catastrophe,” and that most Jews have fled.
Jonathan Markovitch spoke as he arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport Thursday. He said the scene on the ground in Ukraine is “a catastrophe.
Planes are bombing places right next to residential buildings,” as well as a train station “maybe 100 meters from where my son lives and 50 meters from the synagogue.”
Most Jews, he said, have left the country. As he spoke, a group of about 150 young men and women held banners and sang as part of a welcome ceremony for new immigrants arriving from Ukraine.
Israel is expecting a wave of perhaps thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the invasion. So far this month, they’ve received a little over 500 people, the government says.”
MediaCentral pre-empted Amnesty’s condemnation of Israel. A day before the organization’s report was published, we held a Zoom conference with Lior Haiat, spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreing Affairs and Atty. Anne Herzberg of NGO Monitor.
There were some thirty outlets on the call including: AP, NYT, CNN, APF, Bloomberg, ABC Australia and VOA.
Below, are segments from a story filed by CNN’s Andrew Carey, who participated in the MC event:
“In an online briefing with journalists held in advance of the report’s publication, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said that Amnesty was ‘using double standards and demonization in order to delegitimize the existence of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people.’”
“While the Israeli government response to the previous B’Tselem and HRW reports was critical, Haiat acknowledged concerns that the apartheid narrative is building, prompting a more combative approach this time.” ‘Of course, there is a concern that people will believe those false accusations,’ Haiat said.”
“He pointed to Israel’s current government, which for the first time includes Arab lawmakers in its ranks as proof of what he termed ‘Israel’s inclusive democracy.’”
AP’s Joseph Krauss was also on the call. Below is text from his piece that included content from the MC event:
“Israel dismissed the previous reports as biased, but has adopted a far more adversarial stance toward Amnesty, accusing it of antisemitism and of delegitimizing Israel’s very existence even before the report was published.”
“‘Its extremist language and distortion of historical context were designed to demonize Israel and pour fuel onto the fire of antisemitism,’ the Foreign Ministry said Monday.”
Former Consul General in Istanbul Moshe Kamhi and Dr. Gallia Lindenstrauss were hosted by MC, in a Zoom call about the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Turkey. More than 100 articles were tracked that included references to the Media Central event – including the Daily Mail and Yahoo. Below are some examples:
MediaCentral organized a pertinent analysis of the Israeli leader’s historic visit, with Dr. Yoel Guzansky, Senior Research Fellow at INSS and Abdullah al-Junaid, Prominent Bahraini Political Analyst.
75 articles resulted from the Zoom conference, including one in the Washington Post:
Below, is a quote from the Washington Post piece:
“Abdullah al-Junaid, a Bahraini political analyst, said players in the region have been disappointed to see Americans ‘go it alone,’ rather than formulate a cohesive regional approach, in attempts to contain threats from Iran.
‘We would definitely like to see a new approach to the ‘containment’ by the U.S. toward Iran, and believe that Vienna shouldn’t be the only course,’ he said.”
In the first event of a new series titled ‘Salon project,’ MediaCentral hosted Lihi Lapid, the wife of Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid, for an exclusive dinner.
There were eight top-tier journalists at the salon, from the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, AP, CBS, ABC radio and BBC. This gathering strengthened the bonds between these leading outlets and MediaCentral, and allowed them the opportunity to get to know a key influencer in Israeli society.
As a result, Lihi Lapid was written about in the Jewish Chronicle, and mentioned in a feature in the Jerusalem Report
On a lighter note – MC hosted a tour to the Legends distillery in the Ella valley, the first American- style whiskey to be made in Israel. FYI, it cannot be called ‘bourbon’ because it is produced outside of the United States.
MediaCentral hopes that next quarter will be even more successful, and that soon we will be able to resume our regular in-person briefings and field tours.
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